Michal Vinik

What is a woman's courage? What is the difference between courage as defined by men and by women? Is a woman who shows courage rewarded, or does she pay a heavy price? Maybe the refusal to be brave is in itself courageous? "Heroine" puts a spotlight on stories told by female filmmakers focused on, and through the eyes of, female protagonists. The film brings to the screen fiction stories which seek to break through the discourse and dialectic of courage and cowardice to discover an additional range of concepts that are not as definitive.

Na'ama is seventeen. She lives in a sleepy suburbia. She is bored. With detached parents and a rebellious older sister, her life at home is a mess. It all changes when a new girl appears at school. She's introduced to a world of drugs, lesbians and sex. She's thrilled. Her life, at last, becomes exciting. Is it going to last? "Barash" is a coming of age story, planted in the heart of Israeli society, about a young woman who struggles to find her self-identity in an environment that has different ideas about sex, drugs and love.

Christina is a Ukrainian woman who moved to Israel through a ‘bride-to-order’ kind of deal. Compared to her life back in Ukraine, life in Israel is great for Christina. She works in a beauty salon, earns her own money, and loves Israel. Her Israeli husband Michael is also satisfied with this marriage. He is happy that he found a woman who can live with him. In fact, he is so satisfied that he starts his own little business scouting for Ukrainian brides for other Israeli men. Michael’s recent matchmaking is a special one—the bride’s name is Valeria, and she’s Christina’s younger sister. Michael went out of his way and found the best man he could get for her. His name is Eitan, and while he may not be the most handsome guy in the country, he is a good-hearted, generous man. However, Valeria is different to her older sister. And the whole delicate balance is at risk.

While her husband struggles to keep his restaurant in business, a mother of three lands a job as an assistant to a powerful, but sexually harrassive realtor and brings herself to fight back.

A film teacher has to teach in Sderot and change the lives of his students.